Teaching Support

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CNS Teaching Grants

Small grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to CNS faculty to pursue opportunities to increase their effectiveness as a researcher or instructor.

Purpose

The purpose of the CNS mini-grant program is to provide funds to CNS faculty who wish to pursue opportunities to increase their effectiveness as a researcher or instructor. The goal of the program is to improve the quality of research and teaching within the College. Small grants, typically ranging from $500 to $1500, will be awarded on a competitive basis for proposals supporting the above purpose and goal.

Criteria for Funding

A short narrative describing how the funds will be used and how they will contribute to improving the quality of the faculty member's teaching or research. Top priority will be given to proposals that aim to develop and incorporate new or alternative approaches to teaching and research.

Administration

Decisions regarding funding will come from the Associate Dean's office after a panel review. Awards will be announced within three weeks of submission with funding available immediately thereafter.

Applications

Forms are available in the CNS Associate Dean's office and on-line: Teaching Mini Grant Form. Applications are being continuously accepted for CNS mini grants. The application should be emailed to Martha Baker: mbaker@cns.umass.edu.

CNS Instructional Technology

The College of Natural Sciences is at the forefront of harnessing technology to significantly alter the way in which science and math are taught. To learn more about these advances in computer-aided pedagogy, follow the links below.

Online Web-based Learning (OWL)

Online Web-based Learning (OWL), the result of more than ten years of development, is a comprehensive, web-based homework system that currently serves more than 20 departments at UMass Amherst. OWL chemistry and computer science homework modules have been published nationally.